“Trump tried to hide by repeating his prepared remarks about love from the previous night, but eventually, the truth came out in Phoenix, as Trump started defending the Confederacy as part of our country and history, and condemned leaders who took down statues that celebrate slavery.” MORE

“Jewish Republicans rejected Donald Trump’s comments in response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, but it doesn’t appear the president is facing further consequences from the small but vital GOP constituency over what they saw as a failure to adequately denounce crowds that shouted anti-Semitic chants and hoisted Nazi flags last weekend.

The Republican Jewish Coalition in a statement called for Trump to show greater leadership after he seemed Tuesday to equate neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan demonstrators with those protesting them. Matt Brooks, executive director of the RJC, would not say whether members plan any further steps to warn the president.” MORE

“Republican Governor John Kasich called Trump’s response to Charlottesville “pathetic” but congressional Republicans are struggling to criticize the president. Former Republican and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will joins Lawrence O’Donnell.Duration: 7:42″ MORE

“You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” Trump said, referring to white supremacists, anti-fascists known as “antifa” and counterprotesters who converged in Charlottesville over the weekend. “You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent.” MORE

“What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, the alt-right, do they have any semblance of guilt?” Trump said. “What about the fact they came charging with clubs in hands, swinging clubs, do they have any problem, I think they do.”

He added: “You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.”

Trump defended his 48-hour delay in denouncing white supremacists, arguing that he took his time because he didn’t know the facts.